New aspects detached from the molecular landscape of dental caries process

Abstract

Dental caries are considered an irreversible pathological process of teeth calcified tissue, characterized by demineralization and further tooth organic substance destruction, finally triggering the cavity formation. The dynamic demineralization process occurs several times during 24 h, but, usually, is balanced by the salivary buffering activity. However, this balance disturbance will trigger caries progression, which will induce several dentin modifications: mineral content reduction, increased micro- and nano-porosity, due to dentin collagen structure modifications, and redistribution of non-collagenous proteins. During carious lesion evolution, after dentin demineralization, the next step is the collagenous organic matrix destruction. Dentinal and salivary proteases (mainly MMPs, together with cathepsins) should be regarded as important targets for the therapeutic strategies of carious lesions.

Keywords

• dental caries
• saliva
• biochemical interactions